1983 World Series
The 1983 World Series matched the American League champion Baltimore Orioles against the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, with the Orioles winning four games to one. "The I-95 Series" - like the World Series two years later, also took its nickname from the Interstate that it took for the teams and fans to travel on--I-95 in this case. This was the last World Series that Bowie Kuhn presided over as commissioner. It was also the last World Series aired on ABC before the network was taken over by Capital Cities Communications (coincidentally, that company's flagship station was Philadelphia's ABC affiliate, WPVI-TV - also the network's first affiliate) Preview The Philadelphia Phillies won the National League East division by 6 games over the Pittsburgh Pirates then defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, three games to one, in the National League Championship Series. The Baltimore Orioles won the American League East division by 6 games over the Detroit Tigers then defeated the Chicago White Sox, three games to one, in the American League Championship Series. thumb|Orioles 1983 World Series Trophy The Orioles won the American League East rather comfortably while the Phillies needed a 22-7 record in September to break open a close eastern divisional race over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Powered by Eddie Murray’s two home runs, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies in 5 games with manager Joe Altobelli winning the championship in his inaugural season with the Orioles, matching Earl Weaver, who had only one World Series win in his 16 years piloting the team. Baltimore Orioles In his first year with the Baltimore Orioles, Joe Altobelli, who last managed the San Francisco Giants from – , succeeded Earl Weaver, who retired to the broadcast booth after a 16 year managerial run from 1968–1982. Altobelli was blessed with first-baseman Eddie Murray and shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. Ripken (27, 102, .318) and Murray (33, 111, .306) finished 1st and 2nd in the 1983 MVP voting, with Ripken out-pointing Murray, 322–290. A year from retirement, Ken Singleton settled into the DH role while the rest of the team were a corps of platoon players. The Orioles finished 1st in team home runs (168), 1st in OBP (.340) and 2nd in runs, doubles, and walks. After winning 15 games in , 37-year-old pitcher Jim Palmer started only 11 games in 1983, winning 5 and losing 4. He won one game in this World Series and would be released by the O's at the beginning of after struggling early. A younger staff headed by 18-game winner Scott McGregor (18–7, 3.18) and 25 year-old Mike Boddicker (16–8, 2.77) were flanked by 21 year-old, Storm Davis (13–7, 3.59) and veteran Mike Flanagan (12–4, 3.30). Dependable Tippy Martinez posted a career high with 21 saves while Sammy Stewart added 9 wins out of the bullpen as the O's pitching led the A.L. in shutouts (15) and was 2nd in wins (98) and ERA (3.63). The Baltimore Orioles faced the Philadelphia Phillies, who were appearing in the World Series for only their 4th time in team history. Philadelphia Phillies The average team age of these 1983 "Wheeze Kid" Phils was 32 years, a contrast to the cast of "Whiz Kid" Phillies of 1950 who averaged 26 years. Wags in Philadelphia joked at the time that this older team even played in Veterans Stadium. Joining 42 year-old 1st baseman Pete Rose were 1970s Cincinnati Reds teammates, 41 year-old 1st baseman Tony Perez and 39 year-old 2nd baseman Joe Morgan. But the real batting star on this team was 33 year-old Mike Schmidt, who would have another MVP-type year with 40 home runs and 109 RBIs. No other teammate would hit over 16 home runs (Joe Morgan) or drive in over 64 runs (Bo Diaz). Veteran pitcher, Steve Carlton had a mediocre year at 15–16 – his first losing season since 1973 when his record was 13–20. In his first full season with Philadelphia, John Denny, would win the Cy Young Award with a league leading 19–6 record, and a 2.37 ERA winning 13 of his last 14 decisions. Closer Al Holland would finish 2nd in the league with 25 saves and win the NL Rolaids Relief Award. Hanging around for their swan songs were relief pitchers, 40 year-old Ron Reed and 38 year-old Tug “Ya Gotta Believe” McGraw, who wouldn’t see any World Series action. The 1983 Phillies had the lowest overall batting average (.195) for a World Series team since the 1974 Oakland Athletics. Summary AL Baltimore Orioles (4) vs NL Philadelphia Phillies (1) Matchups Game 1 Tuesday, October 11, 1983 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland Phillies starter John Denny gave up a first-inning homer to Jim Dwyer, but that would be it for the Orioles as 40-year old Joe Morgan tied it with a solo shot in the sixth off Scott McGregor. Morgan became the second-oldest man to hit a home run in the World Series (Enos Slaughter was just a few months older than Morgan when he hit one for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series). Garry Maddox led off the eighth with a solo homer off McGregor for the final margin. Denny got the win with relief help from ace Al Holland. The top of the 7th inning of Game 1 was delayed due to Howard Cosell's interview with President Reagan on ABC. Some observers believe that the delay ultimately made Orioles pitcher Scott McGregor cold to the point of him giving up a decisive home run to Garry Maddox. McGregor would eventually redeem himself as he was the winning pitcher (in a complete game) in the clinching Game 5. Ronald Reagan's visit by the way marked the 12th time that a Chief Executive had attended a World Series game. The Orioles' loss in Game 1 marked the first time in six World Series that they had lost the first game. Game 2 Wednesday, October 12, 1983 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland The Orioles got another post-season gem from ALCS MVP Mike Boddicker and his "foshball" in Game 2. Boddicker went the distance, striking out six and walking no one. He allowed only three hits and one run, a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Joe Lefebvre. The O's got their runs in the fifth on a John Lowenstein solo homer, a Rick Dempsey RBI double, and a sacrifice fly by Boddicker, helping his own cause. Cal Ripken added an RBI single in the seventh. When the Phillies benched Pete Rose in favor of Tony Pérez in Game 3, it ended a streak in which Rose played every inning of his 59 previous postseason games. Game 3 Friday, October 14, 1983 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Steve Carlton became the first 300-game winner to pitch in a World Series in 55 years (Grover Cleveland Alexander was the last). Carlton shut out the Orioles through five innings, buoyed by solo homers from Gary Matthews and Joe Morgan. The Orioles cut the lead to one in the sixth on a solo homer by Dan Ford. In the bottom of the sixth, the Phillies had two on and two outs with Carlton coming up to bat. Phillie manager Paul Owens went to the on-deck circle to chat with Carlton about staying in the game. Carlton said he was fine, but struck out for the final out. Carlton looked to be cruising with two outs in the seventh, but Rick Dempsey belted a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Benny Ayala pinch-hit and singled home Dempsey to tie it. Al Holland relieved Carlton to try to close out the inning, but John Shelby singled Ayala to third. Ayala scored the go-ahead run on an error by shortstop Ivan DeJesus on a ball hit by Ford. Long-time Oriole pitching hero Jim Palmer got the win in relief as he, Sammy Stewart, and Tippy Martinez pitched six shutout innings in relief of Mike Flanagan. This win by Palmer, along with his first World Series win in 1966, marks the longest span (17 years) between World Series wins for an individual pitcher in major league history. Jim Palmer's win in Game 3 made him the only pitcher to win a World Series game in three different decades. Palmer is also, the only man to have played with the Orioles in each of their World Series appearances (1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979, and 1983). Game 4 Saturday, October 15, 1983 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken, Jr. batted .161 with exactly one RBI between them through the first four games. Eddie Murray would go on to become the Game 5 hero with two titanic home runs, including the only two-run homer in the series. Rich Dauer broke a scoreless tie by singling in two runs in the fourth off John Denny. The Phillies came back in the fourth off Storm Davis with an RBI double by Joe Lefebvre and took the lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Denny and an RBI double by Pete Rose. In the top of the sixth with one out, John Lowenstein singled and Dauer doubled him to third. O's manager Joe Altobelli then sent Joe Nolan, the first of four consecutive pinch-hitters, to the plate. Phils reliever Willie Hernandez walked Nolan to load the bases. The next pinch-hitter, Ken Singleton, walked as well to force in Lowenstein with the tying run. Finally, John Shelby, hitting for Al Bumbry, hit a sacrifice fly to put the O's ahead 4–3. The Orioles added an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single by Dauer, who would collect 3 hits and 3 RBIs. The Phillies would get no closer than a single run in the ninth, as Tippy Martinez got his second save of the series. The crowd of 66,947 in Veterans Stadium, was the biggest for the World Series since Game 3 in New York in 1964. Game 5 Sunday, October 16, 1983 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania :See also MLB.com's coverage of the fifth game Throughout this series, both teams' big gun hitters had been held in check. Mike Schmidt was 1 for 16, while Eddie Murray was 2 for 16. In this game, however, Murray decided to snap out of it by belting two home runs and driving in three runs. Rick Dempsey, who would be named MVP, also homered and doubled and scored two runs. Scott McGregor pitched a complete game, five-hit shutout to give the Orioles the championship. It was Cal Ripken Jr. who made the final out of the series. Composite Box 1983 World Series (4-1): Baltimore Orioles (A.L.) over Philadelphia Phillies (N.L.) |}} Aftermath Pitcher Larry Andersen was the only person to play for the Phillies in the 1983 World Series and the 1993 World Series against Toronto. Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 398-401) * External links *1983 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com *[http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1983 1983 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] *1983 World Series by Baseball Almanac *The Orioles All Pitched In at SI.com *History of the World Series - 1983 at SportingNews.com *1983 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org *Looking Back: 1983 World Series, Part 1 at phillies.theinsiders.com *Looking Back: 1983 World Series, Part 2 at phillies.theinsiders.com *Looking Back: Phillies Beat LA in 1983 NLCS at phillies.theinsiders.com *1983 Baltimore Orioles at baseballlibrary.com *1983 Philadelphia Phillies at baseballlibrary.com Category:World Series World Series Category:Baltimore Orioles Category:Philadelphia Phillies